Had my spring HVAC system check-up today. Not news I was happy to hear. Furnace blower motor is slowly dying and sucking twice the amps it should be (no wonder the lights nearly blink out every time it comes on) and the air conditioning condenser and compressor need so many repairs it makes more sense to replace them with newer, higher efficiency components. Also factoring into that... R-22 refrigerant is being discontinued in January 2010, so even if I spend a ton of money to repair it, the next time it needs work it'll cost over $1000 just for the refrigerant.
But yeah... either way, money I didn't really want to spend right now... but it's either fix it before it dies, or wait for it to break down and spend a week or two with no A/C or heat waiting for them to get to me. All things considered, I'd rather head this off before it gets to that point. If I play the lotto with it, I know it'll be the hottest day of summer or coldest day of winter when my number comes up.
Teenagers were playing with fireworks at the next-door neighbors house last night when a rocket took off sideways and set fire to a bush under one of my front windows. I heard people yelling "Fire!" outside so I ran downstairs and got to the front door to find a big cloud of gray smoke. Not being completely ignorant, they'd had a fire extinguisher handy and had already put out the flames. But I still went around back and got the hose and wet everything down.
This morning, I went back out to wash the white powder off the driveway and inspect the damage... and the grandmother, who was the only sensible adult at home next door last night, saw me outside and came over to apologize. She seemed sincere, and she had put an end to any more fireworks and ordered everyone inside last night after it happened, so I guess this will remain one of those "we're lucky no one got hurt" things.
The damage is all confined to one arborvitae bush - I think the rocket must have gone through it and set the needles on the ground on fire - and all I can do now is wait and see which parts die off and which parts recover. It's a pretty big bush and only a couple branches got blackened. These shrubs have taken a pretty hard beating in the winter and bounced back... so we'll see what happens.
One-question history quiz. Today, Americans celebrate...
A) The invention of fireworks by medieval Chinese sweatshop workers. B) That time Wil Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved the planet from alien invasion. C) Our obsession with meat cooked in the backyard over an open fire. D) The signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Iran: Showing Florida how ballot rigging is REALLY done.
You know... the people just might have bought it had the results came in 55% / 45% in favor of the incumbent. But NO... they had to go and do a Bernie Madoff on the returns.
Sadly, I think anyone who believes revolution is in the making is dreaming. In the end it's all going to come down to whose side has the most teargas, guns, and batons.
Staying busy. Scrambling on yet another project at work where the information we needed to start arrived three weeks late but the client still expects us to meet the original deadline.
Potential big updates for The Gathering of the Gargoyles have me VERY hyper tonight. BTW, if you've not booked a hotel room yet... the block is filling fast. Also, be sure to check out our "Art for the Gathering" auctions on eBay.
In home improvement news... $1800 worth of unplanned plumbing and drywall repairs later, the upstairs shower no longer creates a rain forest effect in my kitchen.
Out in the garden... some perennials that I planted last year offered up crop of seedlings which I've dug up and put into pots. They've already doubled in size since Saturday, so I'll probably be splitting each plant up into a separate container very soon. Two plants turning into twenty... not a bad return, especially in today's economy. :P
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